Basketball: Film Study, Make Know That become Know How

"A picture is worth a thousand words." Video adds so much more. Ask a player, "what did you see?" Be patient because film study is an acquired taste. Video review unlocks the power to change know that to know how. 

Ball watching presents the first obstacle. Eighty percent of player action takes place off the ball. 

Where do we start? This article shares how Kobe Bryant watched film. "From the start of the preseason until the end of the playoffs, Winter insisted on watching every play of every game with Bryant. It took 4½ hours as they watched film on cassette tapes."



1. Make watching film a priority. It takes more time than you think. 
2. Commit to making film study part of your daily process.
3. See the big picture first (spacing, defensive proximity).
4. What was the intent of each team, the attack and defense?
5. Focus on decision-making. 
--What did you see? 
--Where were your teammates?
--Where was the opposition? 
--What was the quality of your choice and the alternatives? 
6. Examine your footwork and balance in detail, offensively and defensively.
--Pivots
--Faking
--Explosiveness 
7. Separation. How do offenses create and defenses deny separation? 
8. Study great players and players with great individual moves that apply to you. 



9. Watch film of special situations (e.g. Adam Spinella ATO)



For example, at 27 seconds, watch the modified zipper cut entry followed by an Iverson cut into a basket attack. 

10. Invest time with quality resources. The PGC blog favors:

- Know the why. The ultimate goal is to improve both ourselves and our players.
- Better to watch 10 minutes of video a day than a marathon film session.
- Keep each film session to three main teaching points.
- Review film sessions right before practice. Take the lesson to the court.
- Add a highlight reel to enhance your film session.

11.Get a variety of opinions. Basketball Immersion did. (Excellent) Highlights:

- Evaluate your team’s reads within your offense use video.
- Chart your video breakdown to investigate potential patterns.
- Watch teams and players that provide realistic ideas that you can use and apply.
- Edit games like you are preparing for an opponent.
- Make points to your team about what drives success.
- Find film of good coaches and write down what you see.

12. Find great video breakdowns. 


Coach Daniel shares a variety of themes. He explains "Away" that I call "Tilted Horns."



Coach Nick's YouTube.com channel shares film, analysis, training, and analytics. Hone in on special action, like Leonard's "Isolation Hero Ball" at 1:07.

Chris Oliver's Twitter feed shares daily video.

I reached out to college coach and skills trainer Don Kelbick for suggestions. He graciously suggested: 

"If you have editing software, this is what I would do:

1. Separate the offense from the defense. It doesn't matter if your cuts are from the same game or different games. By separating them, it will be easier for you to find the specific points you want to emphasize.
2. Catalogue the cuts. If you can do it within the software, even better. That will let you look for specific actions at the touch of a button.
3. Find 3 or 4, certainly no more than 5, illustrations of each point you want to emphasize. Your cuts should not just be errors, but good plays as well. If there is something you would like a player to work on, say shots off downscreens, if the player doesn't do that in games, illustrate with opponents. This is about getting better, not winning and losing.
4. Make your edits be no more than 10 minutes for offense and 10 minutes for defense. Use time and player focus wisely.

Cataloguing the cuts is very important. If you can't do it within the software, use a pen and a pad. That would allow you to keep the sessions short so she maintains a level of concentration, but you can have multiple viewing, each concentrating on a different aspect of her game. You don't have to do it all at once."

Common themes: 

- Steal from the best.Stand on the shoulders of giants.
- Make watching video part of your process. 
- It's not "gotcha." Show what went well and what needs fixing. 
- Have clear goals from a session (e.g. three major teaching points).
- Avoid overkill. I think Doc Rivers said not to use over 13 clips. 

Lagniappe: Professional film review 



Lagniappe 2: A Twitter thread about watching video

Lagniappe 3: Write not to show how much we know but how much there is to know.